Roses to an Iowa civil rights pioneer and Food Bank of Iowa

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David Twombley, left, and his partner Larry Hoch, both of Urbandale, react to learning of the Iowa Supreme Court ruling in favor of legalizing gay marriage in 2009.(Photo: Register file photo)Buy Photo

A thistle to Republican lawmakers in neighboring Wisconsin for a sore-loser power grab that disrespects the outcome of the November election. Voters sent Gov. Scott Walker packing, ending eight years of total GOP control in the state. The response from the majority party: call a lame duck session and quickly pass sweeping legislation intended to curb the powers of Democrats who won statewide elections.

The legislation would force incoming Democratic governor Tony Evers to get permission from lawmakers to ban guns in the Wisconsin Capitol and seek adjustments on some public benefit programs. It imposes a new limit on early voting, which tends to benefit Democratic candidates, and gave control of the majority of appointments on the economic development board to lawmakers instead of the governor. The legislation would block Evers’ ability to withdraw the state from a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act.

GOP lawmakers also set their sights on the newly elected Democratic attorney general, who would need lawmakers’ approval to settle certain suits. He could no longer appoint a solicitor general to represent the state in major lawsuits.

“Wisconsin has never seen anything like this,” Evers said in a statement. “Wisconsin values of decency, kindness, and finding common ground were pushed aside so a handful of people could desperately usurp and cling to power while hidden away from the very people they represent.”

The GOP actions are the lowest of the low in politics. Wisconsin voters had clearly had enough of union busting, unnecessary voter identification laws, work requirements on Medicaid recipients and the furthering of other conservative policies. The politicians up there cannot pack their bags fast enough.

A rose to David Twombley, an Iowa marriage-rights pioneer who died this month at age 77. The longtime music teacher and his partner, Larry Hoch, were one of the plaintiff couples in Varnum v. Brien, the Iowa Supreme Court case that allowed same-sex marriage in this state.

The 60-somethings, who had been a couple for more than a decade before the court case, married after the ruling. They lived in Urbandale until Hoch, a middle school teacher, died in 2016. Anyone who spent time talking to Twombley, including the many reporters who interviewed him, felt his warmth and kindness. He will be missed, but his work and dedication to equality will live on.

A rose to the Food Bank of Iowa for distributing a record-breaking 1.5 million pounds of food in November. The Des Moines-based food bank is Iowa’s largest anti-hunger organization, distributing donated food and grocery products through a network of about 500 partner agencies covering 55 counties. This helps Iowans fill gaps in food security resulting from low incomes and inadequate government benefits — something elected officials can influence by supporting higher wages and food assistance.

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